Prisoners of the Aura
by SnowLabrador
Summary: Ash Ketchum is heading out for a date with Serena when he is clubbed in the back of the head. He wakes up in a prison cell to discover that he has transformed into a Lucario. Now, to get out of here, and to figure out how he got this way... Amourshipping is present, but nothing explicit.
1. The First Date?

**Here is my latest story, Prisoners of the Aura! I thought that this was a pretty cool title for a story, and I came up with a plot line to use for it.**

 **I very much hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review to tell me what you thought of it.**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

It was a hot June weekend, and I was trying to figure out what to do with myself. This wasn't an easy task, because, when you live in a town as small as Pallet Town, there really isn't that much.

I was pacing my room, tapping my chin as I did so. Every few steps, I would pass by one of my windows, and the sun would be shining directly into my face.

It was about seven in the morning, and already pretty warm. According to the weather forecast, today was supposed to be ninety-five degrees. That was a hot day if I'd ever seen one.

I looked over to my dresser, where I always kept my Pikachu. Currently, he was resting in his Pokeball, and I was going to keep it that way, thanks to the intense heat of the day.

In this weather, I didn't have any intention of letting Coyopa go outside. Even though their fur was very thin, they were very vulnerable to heat illness for whatever reason. It just wasn't something you wanted to risk with them.

"Ash?" my mother asked, as she walked up to my door.

Yes, it was just my mother. My father had left the family when I was a toddler, and I don't really have any memories of him. Really, it's probably for the best, if he was that much of a jerk.

I opened the door - I saw no reason not to. I was a little surprised that she was up this early; normally, on the weekends, she preferred to sleep in. Clearly, that was not the case today.

"Good morning, Mom" I replied, looking down at my feet. I didn't know what else to say.

"Morning, Ash" she said. She was still wearing her pajamas, and her hair looked relatively unkempt. I presumed that she hadn't had her morning coffee yet; that was probably what was going on.

I had never thought that an early-morning conversation with my mother would be particularly awkward. After all, I knew her better than pretty much any other person in the world, so why would it be?

However, now, I was thinking twice about that assumption. I couldn't think of anything else to say; this was an awkward exchange indeed.

Eventually, she said, "So...looking for anything to do?"

I nodded, which was a big mistake. If you're bored and looking for something to do, never admit it to your parents, because they are going to make you do work. It never fails.

"Okay, then" my mother replied. "Please unload the dishwasher for me".

Once again, I nodded, this time reluctantly. As chores went, this one wasn't too bad, given that it only took a few minutes. Even so, I didn't particularly like doing it.

I went down into the kitchen, where the sun was shining brightly. Had I been in the living room, sitting in my usual spot by the window, it would have been shining even more directly in my face.

Let me introduce myself, before anything else happens. I feel that I owe it to you.

My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm a Pokemon trainer. I only had one Pokemon, however, and that was my Pikachu, whom I had named Coyopa, after an ancient thunder deity. (Besides, the name had just sounded cool, so that's what I had settled with after agonizing over it for a few minutes).

I was eighteen years old and lived with my mother, Delia, in a large house in Pallet Town, which is located in the Kanto region. It's really quite a nice place, particularly if you think trees make good neighbors. Not a lot happens there, but that's the way I've always liked it.

I'm a fairly tall guy, six feet even, with spiky black hair. Thanks to my hair, I am instantly recognizable whenever I enter a room with at least one person who has heard of me before. Of course, I would eventually not have black hair anymore, but that part of the story hasn't come yet.

Once I was done unloading the dishwasher, I decided that I was going to call my friend Serena. I wanted to know if she was available to hang out with, maybe play some video games together, or maybe go out to breakfast.

Serena was in my year at school, but a couple of months younger than me. I'd known her since kindergarten, and we'd been good friends ever since.

Confession time: I liked Serena.

And yes, I do mean "like" in a romantic sense. I'd never actually told her that, but I did harbor feelings for her, feelings that I knew I would reveal to her someday.

 _Someday, perhaps, but maybe not today._

Even though, having just turned eighteen, I was now legally an adult, I decided that I was going to tell my mother my idea, just in case she disapproved. You can call me old-fashioned, or call me a mama's boy, and either of those just might be true. However, I didn't want to go against her wishes.

I headed upstairs. "Mom?" I asked.

She turned around to face me. "Yes, Ash?"

I cut right to the chase. "I was thinking of going out to breakfast with Serena. If, of course, she is okay with it".

My mother nodded. "Yeah, you should probably call her first. That said, I do like the idea. A nice opportunity to-".

"Mom?"

"Yes, Ash?"

"Shut up".

To my mother's credit, that is just what she did do. And I was grateful for that, because I was under no illusions as to what she would be about to say next.

She'd been about to talk more about me being in love with Serena. I had never specifically told her that, but I had been pretty sure that she had figured it out.

I was right.

"Okay" my mother eventually said. "You can go and call Serena, and, if she is willing, she can drive you guys to breakfast".

I didn't have my license yet; just a learner's permit on which I had logged roughly six hours of driving practice. I hadn't used it as much as most people did, because, truth be told, most of Pallet Town was pretty walkable.

I went up to my room and dialled Serena's number. I wasn't sure if I would get voice mail or her actual voice, and I found myself practically holding my breath. Was it too good to be true, that I might actually get to talk to her.

"Hello" a female voice said, from the other end. It was a female voice that I knew very well.

"Serena?" I asked.

"Yes, it's me" she replied. "What's up?"

I cut right to the chase. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to breakfast with me. It'll be great; we could head to the Lucario Lounge, get some pancakes or whatever".

Somehow, I knew what to say in order to make it sound more appealing to her. It was almost as though I were using the power of charmspeak on Serena.

"Yes" she said. "That would be great. I will say, you did catch me a little early in the morning".

"Sorry" I replied, trying to be a gentleman.

"It's fine" Serena told me. "But, just for future reference, remember to call a little later in the morning. I'm generally really cranky before eight in the morning; you caught me on a good day".

I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't potentially offended her so greatly that she would never consider dating me.

 _You're getting really ahead of yourself, Ash,_ a voice inside my head told me. _Just because you're going out to breakfast with her now doesn't mean that you're going to be boyfriend/girlfriend in the future._

 _I know,_ I replied. _But I want to believe that._

Somehow, I knew that Serena was meant for me, and I was meant for her. I just hoped I could persuade her of that.

Of course, however, there was a long way to go before we got to that point. Right now, I was perfectly content with a breakfast date, if one could even call it a date.

"See you later" I replied. "Are you picking me up at my place?"

"Yes" she said. "Are you all right with that?"

"Yeah". I was a little self-conscious about not yet having my license, whereas Serena had had hers for over a year. Still, though, I was working towards it, and that was what counted, at least in my opinion.

"All right. See you in ten minutes or so".

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me doing so. Then, I smiled to myself.

 _This is going to be amazing,_ I thought.

Indeed it was. Even if it wasn't technically going to be a date, the idea that I was going to have a great time at breakfast with Serena was definitely brightening up my day.

After ten minutes or so, just like she had said, Serena showed up at my door.

Really, she was quite ravishing, if I do say so myself. She was tall and skinny, with long blonde hair.

"Ready to go?" she asked me.

I nodded. I was ready; I couldn't wait to dig in to my favorite pineapple pancakes that the restaurant served.

After getting in the car, it was only a brief drive to the center of town. Unfortunately, Serena did live a fairly long distance from me, which was why she wasn't able to walk to my house. This was a shame, because I really did like walking, particularly on a nice day like today.

We arrived at the restaurant, and began to wait in line to be seated. There was a fairly long line, which I supposed was fairly typical for a Saturday morning.

I faced Serena. "It's nice to be able to spend time with you".

She nodded, smiling. "Same with you, Ash. Same with you".

Almost immediately, I had a vague sense of foreboding. Nothing tangible was causing it, but I had a vague feeling of impending doom on the horizon.

I must have shivered or something, because Serena tapped me on the shoulder. "You okay, Ash?" she asked me.

I nodded. I was fine. I had to keep believing I was fine, or else I was going to go crazy.

Little did I know, the sense of foreboding was real. It wasn't just that I really felt that way; I really had _reason_ to feel that way.

They say that the higher you go, the farther there is to fall. And, let me tell you, that old saying is very, very true.

Not long after this, my life would start sucking.


	2. Red Eyes

**Sorry that I took longer than usual to put this chapter out. My excuse? I was playing Twilight Princess, taking another stab at that game that I got for Christmas of 2017. Also, I took the ACT, and I've been spending time with my cousins from out west. So that's my excuse.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter of Prisoners of the Aura!**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

It wasn't long before Serena's name was called. The reservation had been made in her name, because I was just too much of a coward to make it in my own name. Go figure.

We sat down at a small table in the middle of the restaurant. There, Serena looked at the menu, while I, already knowing what I was going to get, stared up at the ceiling.

The sense of impending doom wasn't going away, and I had no idea why. My life was going great right now; I was about to finish my junior year of high school, and, what was more, I was working towards my driver's license. We were heading into the summer, which probably meant a trip to the Coronet Range. Really, it would have seemed as though everything was going my way.

But I did have that feeling. The feeling that, no matter what I did, things were going to go wrong.

Eventually, the waitress came by and asked us what we wanted to drink.

"Hot chocolate" I said. Even though it was summer, it just sounded soothing to me, and I could definitely use something soothing right about now.

"Seltzer water with a splash of cranberry" Serena told the waitress.

After we each made our orders, the waitress took away our menus, and we both faced each other.

 _Is this the time?,_ I wondered. _The time when I ask her if she wants to…_

 _No, it's not,_ a voice inside my head said. _Wait until you're a bit less worried about everything. You don't want your worries to ruin the mood when you do pop the question._

"Seriously, Ash, you look worried about something" Serena told me. "Is everything all right?"

I wasn't going to admit that I was afraid of something completely intangible. "Yeah" I replied. "Nothing's wrong. Not a single thing".

She smiled, but I got the feeling that she wasn't buying it, not for a moment.

"Any plans for the summer?" I asked her.

"Nothing much" she replied. "Might just hang out here. Or I might get a job as a lifeguard or something. I _am_ fully trained in CPR".

"Nice" I said. I wasn't; I had a vague idea of how to do it, but that was that. I certainly hadn't attended a class or anything like that.

"It's going to be really hot today" she said. "Maybe you want to go to Splashfest tomorrow?"

"We'll see" I replied.

Splashfest was the coolest water park in the entire Kanto region, and that was a damn fact. It had more than a hundred rides, including one with a twenty-foot jump into a pool of water. That ride, needless to say, wasn't for the faint of heart.

"Just an idea" she said. "If you'd rather hang out here, that's fine".

I spent a lot of time with Serena; after all, we had been very good friends since I was six years old. I had begun to wonder if there was maybe something more between us, but myself, being as socially awkward as I was, had not yet decided to make the first move.

I shrugged. "Whatever you want. Splashfest sounds like fun to me"

Little did I know, future events would prevent us from going to the water park. That was a shame, but it is what it is.

The waitress came by with our food (pineapple pancakes for me, a Mile City omelet for her), and the conversation slowed down as we both dug in.

The taste of the pancakes did have an effect on me. I found myself to no longer be quite as worried about the future, whatever it contained.

"So...what are _your_ plans for the summer?" she asked me.

I responded after I finished my bite of pancake. "I think that we're going up to the Coronet Range, my mother and I" I replied. "That is what we usually do. And it's always a good time".

She smiled. "I see. Anywhere close to Mile City?"

"That's usually the airport we fly into" I said. "It's a pretty long flight up there, though. Seven hours or so".

"I hate long flights" Serena replied. "There's often nothing to do there".

Now it was my turn to smile. "You and me both".

We chuckled a bit, and then continued eating. The restaurant was getting a little more crowded now, and I was glad we had come earlier and made a reservation. Otherwise, we might have had to wait a while, and I'm not a fan of waiting.

There wasn't a whole lot else that happened, to be honest. We were just eating our breakfast, and then Serena said something that changed everything.

"Your eyes…" she said.

"What about them?" I asked her. Truth be told, I didn't see why my eyes were so noteworthy. They were just plain and brown, which, in Kanto, was the most common eye color. In the Sinnoh region, since it was further north, blue eyes were more common, but that was Sinnoh. And what did that have to do with what she was saying?

"They are red" Serena whispered.

"Seriously?" I asked. I didn't remember straining my eyes at all. Usually, that was what resulted in them becoming that color, but, if she was indeed telling the truth, something else was at play here.

After excusing myself to go to the restroom, I looked in the mirror. There, I couldn't believe my own eyes.

I was looking at myself, which, considering that it was a mirror, wasn't surprising. That was just what was to be expected.

What _was_ surprising, however, was the fact that I saw that Serena was telling the truth. My eyes, normally a dull brown, were now scarlet.

 _Okay...what's going on here? Am I turning into a Lucario or something?_

I chuckled to myself. There was no way that was it. There was just no way, because that just didn't happen. It had never been known to happen. I just didn't grasp how it could maybe, possibly be true. Because it just wasn't.

 _Nobody ever turns into a Pokemon. It doesn't happen, has never happened, and WILL never happen._

But I was curious about one thing; why was that the first conclusion my mind had leaped towards? If there were so many other possibilities, then why was that the one that I first thought about?

 _Because it's ridiculous._

 _Whatever,_ I thought. _I should probably rejoin Serena at the table._

I went back over to the table, where Serena was finishing up her Mile City omelet. Even though there was still some pancake left on my plate, I had no appetite for it anymore. The fact that my eyes had turned red may or may not have had something to do with that.

"Are you okay, Ash?" she asked me again, once she noticed that I wasn't eating anymore.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I said. "My eyes just happen to be red. I don't know what's going on".

She nodded sadly, taking a sip of her drink.

Eventually, the waitress came back and, seeing that Serena was done, took her plate away from her. She then asked if I wanted to take the rest of my pancakes home.

I shook my head. "No, thanks".

We faced each other yet again, and she was the next one to speak.

"I don't know what's going on, Ash...but you must not have gotten that much sleep. That would make sense, given how tired you look".

I didn't realize that I had looked tired, but now, remembering how I had looked in the mirror just minutes before, I realized that she was right. Perhaps, subconsciously, I had been worried in my sleep about...whatever it was.

"Well, we should probably get going. Did you bring your wallet?"

"Yes" I replied.

As soon as the waitress came back with the bill, I opened my wallet (which contained my learner's permit) and dug out the notes that would pay for the meal. After that, we left the restaurant, and I was eager to be away from there.

We eventually got back to my house, and I had no idea what to say. I was just standing in the middle of the foyer with Serena, and completely at a loss for words.

"Seriously, Ash...what is it? It can't be sleep deprivation; you must be really stressed about something".

"I guess I am" I replied. At that point, I decided to just lay down everything like it was; there was no point in beating around the bush anymore. I had opened the floodgates, and now it was all going to come out.

"What are you worried about?"

 _She is uncommonly perceptive,_ I thought. _How is she that way?_

Whatever. That wasn't my chief worry right now.

"I just have a vague feeling that something bad is going to happen" I replied. "I don't know if it's based in reality or not, but I just want to be careful".

Serena nodded, looking very worried indeed now. "The problem is, what could we do in order to be careful? It's not as though we're taking any unnecessary risks right now. The way I see it, we're just living our lives".

"Yeah" I replied.

"Trust me, Ash. Nothing's going to happen. At least, nothing that you are probably worried about. There are the usual bad things that happen every day, but I don't think anything specific to us will occur. You need to relax".

"Are you sure?" I just felt like I needed reassurance of that, so I just said that so that she would say something in return. I felt as though she had simply been asserting that things would be fine, rather than providing any concrete evidence that that was the case.

She nodded. "Yeah, Ash. But let me say something else, something that I think is really important".

"Continue" I said matter-of-factly.

"It was a pleasure to have breakfast with you today. I'm hoping that...in spite of everything...you enjoyed it as well".

In spite of everything, I found myself smiling. "You know what? I did like it. It was nice to be with you, and I really liked that restaurant. I'm assuming that you have to go now?"

She nodded, slightly sadly. "I do have to leave now. But I'll see you again tomorrow, okay?".

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow".

While it was uncommon for us to hang out together on both days of one weekend, it wasn't unheard of. We did spend quite a lot of time together, and both of us very much enjoyed each other's company.

 _How long until it comes time for me to ask her?,_ I wondered. _Should I ask her right now?_

Unfortunately, I spent so much time pondering it that my window of opportunity had closed. Serena walked out of the front door, and I was suddenly alone in the foyer, looking at no one in particular.

My mother came down the stairs. "Hey, Ash" she said.

I turned to face her. "Hello, Mom".

She smiled at me. "Did you enjoy your time with Serena this morning?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I did. But I have something to tell you".

My mother looked at me with a slightly suspicious expression. I didn't know why she looked that way; after all, I had never thought of myself as being mischievous, and she didn't think of me like that either.

"What is that?" she asked me.

"At the restaurant, Serena said that my eyes had turned red" I replied. Just as it had been with Serena, I didn't see any reason to beat around the bush. I was going to tell her everything, just the way that it was.

My mother visibly flinched. "Wow" she said. "That's quite something".

"Indeed it is" I replied. "So I went into the bathroom, and, sure enough, she was right. My eyes did look red".

She frowned. "Do you mean that the white parts were red, or the pupils?"

"I mean they were _red_ red" I said. "Just like the eyes of a Lucario. That's what they looked like".

"That is quite creepy" my mother admitted. "I'll grant you that. However, I still don't get how that happened. You weren't tired or anything like that, were you?"

"I wasn't" I replied. "My eyes just happened to turn red. It wasn't just that, though".

"What else was there?" my mother asked. "Besides your eyes being red, I mean?"

"I had a vague sense that something was going to go very, very wrong" I replied. "Do you ever have a feeling of impending doom, that the train is going to go off the rails, to put it one way?"

"Sometimes, I have anxiety" my mother admitted. "But I don't know if I'd call it a _sense of impending doom._ That sounds far more ominous to me. And...I don't know what that's all about".

"Join the club".

She chuckled. "I wouldn't worry too much about that, Ash. Like I said, I do get anxiety sometimes. It's normal for everyone, so I wouldn't set too much store by that if I were you".

I nodded and then headed upstairs. With nothing better to do, I decided to grab my Pokeball off of my dresser.

Ever since I was ten years old, I've had a Pikachu named Coyopa. He's always been my best friend and closest companion, and he's been nothing but amazing to me. I've always known that I could count on him.

After releasing Coyopa, he looked around the room, then at me. "What's going on?" he asked me.

I have something to tell you about" I replied. "Something that you might not like".

Coyopa started whimpering slightly. It was then that I realized that mentioning that he might not like the news might have been a big mistake. Perhaps I should be breaking this news all at once, rather than slowly.

"What is it?" he asked me eventually.

"That's the thing" I replied. "I know what it is, but I don't know what it is".

Coyopa looked confused. "I'm not following you".

"What I mean is", I said, "I have a sense that something bad is going to happen. I can't put my finger on why things are going to go wrong, but I do feel quite confident that they will".

"I see" Coyopa replied. He didn't say anything more, leaving me to question what he might have been thinking.

"So what do you suppose I do about it?"

"I don't know, man" my Pikachu said back to me. "You could consider getting a bit more exercise. I know that you get plenty already, but running on the treadmill a little more couldn't hurt".

I knew that exercise tended to improve the moods of most people, and I was indeed one of those people. Therefore, it might not have been a bad idea to hop on the treadmill.

"I think I'll go down to the exercise room, get on the treadmill" I told Coyopa. "Thanks for the advice".

My Pikachu smiled. "You're welcome".

I turned around and walked down to the basement, where my mother was folding laundry. I then turned left and headed into the exercise room, where we had a bench, a seat, several dumbbells, and a treadmill.

After turning on some songs by my favorite band, Billy Talonflame, I started running to the tune of "Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rattatas". It was a song that tended to motivate me to move faster, due to the fast pace of said song.

I ran until I was exhausted, but I didn't notice any real change in my mood. No matter what I did, it seemed, I couldn't stop worrying.

* * *

For the rest of the day, I had a thought in my head that maybe, just maybe, if I was able to get some sleep, that would be a temporary respite from my worries. Just catch some Z's, and everything was going to be all right.

I was wrong.

Once I got into bed that evening, I had a very hard time getting to sleep. My heart was pounding very quickly and loudly, making me wonder if I was having a panic attack.

 _I've never had a panic attack before,_ I thought. _I definitely don't want to start now._

Indeed, I was very worried about that. I'd heard that, when one was having a panic attack, they frequently felt as though they were having a heart attack. I didn't feel that way - at least, I didn't _think_ I did. Again, I'd never had a heart attack before, so I wasn't entirely sure what it felt like.

Eventually, after what must have been well over an hour, I was able to fall asleep. When I did, however, the only thing waiting for me was a nightmare.

In my dream, I was floating in the air, well above Pallet Town. I wasn't sure exactly how high I was, but it must have been at least several hundred feet, because I could see most of the town.

From this bird's-eye view, I could tell that an army of darkness was marching over the landscape, right towards the central green, which was where the Mayor's Mansion was.

The army wasn't darkness _itself,_ necessarily. Rather, it appeared more like what darkness would look like if it had a physical form.

An army of skeletons, marching like a dancing troupe, was making its way towards the mansion. They sure looked as though they were about to take it over.

Suddenly, the sky grew dark, as though a storm were on the horizon, and a purple cloud engulfed the sun. The temperature dropped to freezing.

And then my dream shifted.

Now, I was standing in the middle of a dark landscape. It was so dark that I couldn't see any of the ground at all; in fact, I could barely see myself.

And there was a large being standing in front of me.

This was a Lucario, standing twenty feet tall. It was possible, however, that it wasn't that it was large, but that I was...small.

Since it was so dark, it was impossible to get any sense of distance; all I knew was that this Lucario was much, _much_ taller than I was. And he looked absolutely vicious.

I started running away, but I was soon met by the Lucario. No - it was a different one.

So I began running in a third direction, away from both Lucario. However, I was soon met by a third Lucario.

 _Is it as bad as I think it is?,_ I thought.

I looked around, and, sure enough, there was an army of dozens of Lucario all marching towards me. No, hundreds of them.

I was surrounded.

* * *

 **That last scene was meant to be a reference to the opening of Zelda: Majora's Mask, where Link finds himself surrounded by Deku Scrubs before turning into one. For Zelda fans out there, I hope you appreciated that.**

 **And yeah, that wraps up the second chapter. Can't wait to hear what you guys think about it.**


	3. Disappearance

**An extremely short chapter, but one that is very much necessary for the plot to progress. It pretty much sets the stage for everything that will come after it, so you'd better prepare yourselves.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

You can probably imagine just how relieved I was when I opened my eyes to find that it had indeed been nothing but a dream. Let me tell you, there is no better feeling than that.

I thought back to what had been happening. I'd been surrounded by an army of Lucario, all running towards me.

It might have been just a coincidence that I had dreamed of that. However, the more I thought about it, the more I didn't think that was the case.

Something was going on here, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.

My alarm clock had pulled me out of my nightmare, thankfully. I had set it for 6:23 AM in spite of the fact that I had nowhere I needed to be that day. Why, you might ask?

Well, it was really quite simple. I didn't particularly like sleeping late; I preferred to be up by seven, not too much later than the time I would usually need to wake up for the purpose of going to school.

 _What was all that about?,_ I wondered. _I had thought that I was going to turn into a Lucario...at least, that was an idea. And then I dream of a bunch of Lucario...that can't be just a coincidence._

 _Eh, must just be my subconscious. That would seem to make the most sense, wouldn't it?_

 _Yeah, it would, but it doesn't explain everything._

 _Oh, shut up._

I didn't have multiple personality disorder, but it sometimes felt as though I did. Certainly, there seemed to be duelling parts of my mind, and they were currently locked in an argument with each other.

I wished that I could have gone back in time, to when things were less complicated. To when I wasn't worrying about possibly turning into a Lucario, or puzzling over whether or not I was in love with Serena.

Unfortunately, the sad truth was that I couldn't. No matter what I wanted to do, the fact remained that I was stuck in the darkest timeline...or, _was_ this the darkest timeline?

 _Hopefully I'll find out sooner rather than later,_ I thought bitterly.

As I headed outside my room in order to brush my teeth, I spotted Coyopa's Pokeball, resting, like usual, on top of my dresser. It was sealed completely, containing my Pikachu, just the way it always did.

 _I'm going to let him out in a bit,_ I told myself. _Then, we are going to have a conversation about everything. I really need to tell him about this._

I'd always trusted Coyopa with just about every secret I had. I'd trusted that he wouldn't tell anybody else, not that he had anybody else to tell it to. He didn't get out very much, and I knew that was my fault.

I brushed my teeth and then released my Pikachu from his Pokeball. Coyopa looked around for a few seconds, and then his eyes alighted on me.

"Hello" he said. "Is it Sunday morning yet?"

"Yeah" I replied. "It is Sunday morning. June seventeenth".

While inside of Pokeballs, Pokemon did not have any sense of how much time had passed; they acted as stasis chambers. It's rather like going under an anesthetic for surgery; you feel as though it has only been seconds, when, in reality, the time that has passed has been far greater.

"Well", he said, "how are you doing?"

 _That's Coyopa for you,_ I thought, trying to suppress a grin. _He's very perceptive, always knows when I'm down._

"Not well, to be honest" I replied. "I'm still really worried".

Coyopa frowned. "What are you worried about?"

I told him. "Basically, I had a dream last night in which I was surrounded by an army of giant Lucario. I tried to get away, but they surrounded me, and I don't know what happened next, because I woke up after that".

"It probably means nothing" my Pikachu replied. "Nothing is going to happen as a result of that. It's not a sign that you're about to turn into a Lucario or anything like that".

"You sure?" I asked him.

"Positive" Coyopa replied. "You see, it's never been known to happen before. In the history of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and all the other regions, there has not once been a human who has transformed into a Pokemon. And there never will be, because that just doesn't happen. Do you understand that?"

"I do" I replied. "But you do realize that there is a first time for everything, right?"

"I'm not arguing that it's impossible" Coyopa said. "Just extremely unlikely. You'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning, which _has_ happened to people before".

I tried not to think about getting struck by lightning. That was far more likely to happen to me, I knew. Turning into a Lucario would probably be, probability-wise, like getting struck by lightning twice.

 _It's not going to happen. Never has, and it never will. Stop worrying about it._

"Okay" I said to Coyopa. "So you don't think it'll happen?"

I knew that he'd already said what he had thought, but I really was looking for some reassurance, just like I had been yesterday, when I was talking with my mother. The sense of dread had only grown after my nightmare.

"It won't happen" he told me. "Relax. And head downstairs. I think that your mother wants to speak to you".

I didn't ask how Coyopa would be able to sense that, and I didn't ask. At this point, I really didn't care; that was how frightened I was.

Once I got downstairs, I saw that my mother was busy making breakfast. She was scrambling some eggs and frying some bacon for me, which were two of my favorite foods.

"Morning, Mom" I said.

"Good morning, Ash" she replied. "How are you doing?"

I didn't know what to say. On one hand, I was feeling somewhat better after my conversation with Coyopa. On the other hand, I wasn't feeling _that_ much better.

Eventually, I said, "A little better than yesterday".

"That's good to know" my mother replied, continuing to fry the bacon. "What do you think you want to do today?"

It didn't take me too long to come up with my answer. "See Serena again. That's what I want to do".

My mother smiled, a smile that looked almost mischievous from my standpoint. "You always want to see Serena".

"Well, that's because I really like her" I said, feeling my face grow slightly red. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No" she admitted, shrugging. Eventually, she had finished cooking, and she placed a small hill of eggs and bacon on a plate for me.

"Thanks" I replied. I wasn't a very good cook, not being the most independent person out there. Considering I was eighteen years old, I probably should have been better at that.

"You are welcome".

I sat down at the table and started eating. Eventually, I decided to tell my mother about my dream.

"There's something else I need to tell you about" I told her.

She looked at me. "What is that, Ash?"

"Last night, I kind of had a nightmare".

Almost immediately after saying that, I felt embarrassed. It's normal to tell your parents that you've had a nightmare when you're eight, but when you're eighteen, it just sounds like something a real sissy would do. And I didn't like to consider myself a sissy.

"About what?" she asked me.

"I was standing in a dark area, and I was suddenly surrounded by an army of giant Lucario. They were all coming for me".

"I see" she replied, scratching her chin. Clearly, she didn't know what to think about that.

I nodded. "Yeah, it's definitely weird. That might have been the weirdest dream I've ever had. At least, that I can remember".

"Yeah" my mother said. "That is a weird dream. I'll grant you that. In any case, if you want to hang out with Serena, I'd suggest calling her. Do you want to bike over to her house or something like that?"

I smiled. "I'd love to".

Since I didn't have my license, and didn't particularly feel like driving with my mother today, I decided that I was going to take advantage of the beautiful day. It wasn't often that the weather was this nice, and I wanted to savor every minute of it.

"Be careful at all the streets, won't you? And make sure to text me once you get there, just so that I know you're safe".

"I will, Mom".

"Okay, then" she replied. "Enjoy your trip".

I smiled before calling Serena, in order to let her know that I'd be coming.

"Hello, Ash" Serena said, as soon as I called her up. "What's going on?"

"Not much. I was wondering if you'd like it if I came over in a bit. Say, an hour or so?"

"That sounds nice" she replied. "You know that I always like to spend time with you".

"All right. See you at 8:15 or so".

"See you then".

Serena then hung up, so I went back to tell my mother the good news. "She wants to hang out at 8:15" I told her.

"That's great news, Ash. It's a pretty long bike ride there, so you might as well leave right now".

I looked at the clock, and it said that it was 7:26 AM. If I was indeed going to go on this trip to see her, now was the time to leave, or so it seemed.

"See you" I told my mother.

"Good-bye. And don't forget to-".

"I get it, Mom. I get it. I'll see you later".

After that I got on my bicycle and started pedalling towards her house.

For a while, I was enjoying the lovely morning. It was my favorite type of day, early summer, with flowers in full bloom and a tolerable level of heat, in the seventies rather than eighties. This was the life.

It was when I arrived in town that it happened.

* * *

 **SERENA'S POV**

Where was Ash?

I'd told him an hour and a half ago to be at my house at a quarter past eight. He had still not arrived, and I was growing more and more impatient.

I had been expecting that he would be at my house on time. After all, it wasn't like Ash to be late. Ever since I had first met him, all the way back in kindergarten, I'd known that he was always one to be punctual, very focused on being on time. He wasn't one to be tardy.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized something.

Perhaps it wasn't his fault he was late. Perhaps he was stuck in traffic, if his mother was driving him here.

 _Did anything happen to him? If so, why didn't he text me about it?_

I wasn't one to check my phone obsessively. In that way, I didn't fit the usual "teenage girl" archetype. However, today, I had held my phone by my side, because I expected him to text me at any moment, in order to let me know where he was.

 _Okay, this is getting ridiculous. He's an hour late now,_ I found myself thinking.

Perhaps he had gotten the time wrong. Or perhaps something else had happened, although I couldn't imagine what might have kept him from seeing me.

 _Ash, where the hell are you?_

* * *

 **Ah, where has Ash gone...I suppose you could just scroll up and read the summary, but where would be the fun in that?**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you will tell me what you thought. I'll see you guys next time.**


	4. Escape

**This chapter wasn't much longer than the last one, but I thought this was a good place to end it. Sorry for being away, too; I had finals, plus my cousins have come up here from out west, so I've been visiting with them.**

 **I'm of course disheartened by the news that Anthony Kennedy is leaving the Supreme Court, but you didn't come here for that, so let us begin the story.**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

The first thing I became aware of, upon coming to, was the worst headache of my life.

I didn't think that I had ever had anything this bad. As I tried to open my eyes...I just couldn't. I was in so much pain that it was all I could do to remain conscious after what had happened.

My head was hurting so much that I couldn't even remember what had happened prior to this. The pain was almost unbelievable, and, what was more, it was causing me to feel like I was going to puke.

I certainly didn't like that; throwing up was never fun. The fact that I couldn't open my eyes made me feel slightly dizzy, which in turn made me feel nauseous.

And then it came back to me. What had happened previously.

I'd been heading out on my bike in order to see Serena. If that was considered at all abnormal, I was a Lucario.

 _My whole body feels kind of itchy,_ I realized. It was as though I was covered in bug bites, not a pleasant feeling to wake up to at all. And yet…

 _Could they be bug bites? That just makes no sense._

No. They weren't bug bites. They couldn't possibly be...or could they?

I supposed that they might indeed have been that, but it was a different kind of itch than that. I don't really know how to explain it, but it felt sightly...prickly, for lack of a better word.

I remembered that I had been riding my bike...and then something had happened to cause me to fall off. Had it been a trip wire? If so, how had they, by which I mean the person who had set it, known that I was going to be the first person to hit it?

 _I'll figure out all those answers later,_ I thought. _First, I have to figure out where I am._

I was eventually able to open my eyes, once the headache subsided slightly. It was like the time I had gotten the flu, but ten times worse, if pain can be quantified that easily.

The first warning sign was that everything seemed much clearer than usual. Perhaps that just had something to do with the fact that I'd just been asleep or unconscious, either or, but probably the latter.

In hindsight, I should have treated this as a sign that my vision was better than it had been previously. That was the only conclusion that could logically have been drawn, at least from my perspective. But, when your vision is already a perfect 20/20, there really isn't any reason to want it to be even better, unless you're in the military or something.

 _I must be dreaming,_ I thought. _There's no way everything looks so HD._

Even though my headache had subsided to the point that I could see, it was hard for me to make out where I was. Granted, part of that was simply due to the fact that I had clearly never been here before; if I had, I would most likely have remembered it quickly.

As I looked around the room, I saw that I was in a dark prison cell. There were no windows, the only opening being a cell door with several black iron bars. I felt a slight tug on my right ankle, and I knew I must have been chained to the ground at some point.

I looked down at my ankle, and saw that, where my foot should have been...there was still a foot, but it was black and furry.

My eyes opened wide. Something was abnormal. Granted, it was quite dark in the cell, but I should have still been able to tell if I had my usual light-colored skin. Clearly, that was not the case right now.

 _I feel prickly all over...my feet are black...is this really what it is?_

I felt one of my hands with my other hand. It sure felt as though there was a spike there, and I had to be careful not to cut myself.

Even though it was very difficult to sense colors in a place as dark as this, there could be little doubt about it.

I had indeed transformed into a Lucario while I had been unconscious. There was just no way around it.

 _Well, what the hell do I do now?,_ I wondered. _I'm trapped down here, shackled to the floor. I obviously want to get out somehow, but how do I do that? What's the best way to escape?_

I tried to stand up, a task that was extremely difficult. Not only was I still very weak, but the chain attached to my ankle hindered my movement to a very high degree. It forced my knees to keep being bent, and that only made things even harder.

I let out a grunt of frustration. I was now a Lucario, and, what was more, I had no idea where I was. In this mysterious dungeon, I couldn't find any way out.

 _Keep tugging on the chain,_ I told myself. _Eventually, I'll be able to break free._

The cell was only fifteen or so feet square. Even if I could escape the chain, it wasn't as though I'd be able to make it very far. I'd have to burrow underneath the gate or something, because there was no way I'd be able to fit above the bars.

At first, the thought seemed ridiculous. After all, burrowing underneath the gate would be pretty much impossible if the ground was rock-hard. And my new chest spike might make it harder for me to there.

However, when I stretched out as far as the chain would let me go, I felt sand, or something similar, beneath my paw. That was a material that would be far easier to move around, much easier to make a hole out of. Using that, I _could_ burrow underneath the gate.

Even so, there was still the problem of getting myself free of this chain. If I tugged on it hard enough, that might help, but it was likely to be very painful.

Indeed, when I tried to stand up and stretch the train taut enough so that it broke, I felt the cold metal of the chain chafing against my ankle. Even though the ankle was covered in a coat of fur, I could feel a slight bit of blood forcing its way to the surface and oozing out.

That wasn't going to be an option, so I tried to think of the moves that Lucario used. Perhaps one of those could save me.

 _Aura Sphere. I can destroy the chain with that._

For a few seconds, I felt rather jubilant, thinking that that might indeed be my salvation. However, it wasn't long before I was hit with a rather rude awakening.

I had only just turned into a Lucario, so it wasn't likely that I'd be able to effectively use the move. Not many people from Pallet Town had ever seen a Lucario in action, since most Pokemon of that species lived in the northern region of Sinnoh. Really, it was a Hail Mary.

It might not have been a _good_ chance; however, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it was my _best_ chance. Even if I brought the whole place crashing down on me by misfiring the Aura Sphere, it was better than being stuck in this dungeon forever.

I held out my paw, palm up, and tried to focus as hard as possible. I imagined putting a small amount of my own aura into the effort.

 _Wait...how did I already know how to use aura? That makes no sense._

Even though I couldn't sense any living beings near me, I could sense several bugs crawling around the cell. It wasn't in the typical sense that humans have, either. This was aura, and there could be no doubt about it.

Sure enough, a small sphere began forming in my fist. Soon, it grew to be the size of a baseball. I let it go and willed it to travel in the direction of the chain that bound me to the floor.

 _CHING!_

With the firing of one Aura Sphere, I had broken the chain. I could still feel it around my ankle, but I knew that it was no longer attached to the ground, and that felt incredibly freeing. I could now move pretty much wherever I wanted.

My initial glee was short-lived, however. I was now able to appreciate just how little space 225 square feet was. There really wasn't anywhere to move around, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

 _Is this place being guarded? If so, I won't want to be caught. I don't want them to know that I broke the chains._

I rubbed my paw against my sore ankle, which I could feel becoming numb. I was slowly but surely losing circulation in my right ankle, and, if I didn't get this chain off quickly, I could have been about to lose all feeling in it whatsoever.

 _Will I have to get my right foot amputated? Not if I have anything to say about it!_

After much tugging on my leg, I was able to get the chain off. That caused the blood to flow more freely, but at least it no longer hurt. At least, not that much. And it wasn't bleeding enough that I would be at serious risk of hypovolemic shock. As long as I got that wound tended to eventually, I'd probably be all right.

I looked around the cell. The patch of sand sure seemed soft enough to dig underneath the gate. The question was, was it deep enough that I'd be able to squeeze my way through? That was a tougher one.

 _Well, might as well try,_ I thought, grunting.

I dug my paws into the sand and began throwing the stuff every which way I could. Before long, I'd created a hole about a foot deep, but I was soaked in sweat and still hadn't made it through.

 _Wow, this is hard,_ I thought, wiping my paw across my snout, which was perspiring to no small degree. I decided to give myself a one-minute break before I attempted to make it any further.

 _Fifty-nine…fifty-eight...fifty-seven…_

As you can probably tell, I was very committed indeed to making sure that I only took a one-minute break. I didn't want to stop for so long that I wouldn't be able to start up again, and I was very worried indeed that that might happen.

Once I thought that the minute was up, I resumed my attack on the pile of sand, scraping fistful after fistful out of the pit. There was just one problem, however.

Before long, my paws began to scrape the bottom of the sandpit, with just rocks below it. This wasn't good, because I now knew that there was only so far I could go. Eventually, I was going to have to shove my body underneath the gate and hope that I'd moved enough sand out of the way that I could get through.

 _Here goes,_ I thought. I was rather claustrophobic, so I wasn't looking forward at all to making the first move. However, I knew that it was what had to be done, and I generally prefer not to procrastinating on things had need to be done.

"Let's do this" I said aloud, turning over onto my back. With that, I scooted into the hole I had dug. I was hoping that it would bring me underneath the bars, with enough space for my chest spike to get through.

I crawled backwards through the passageway, hoping the whole time that I'd be able to make it through. Soon, I was proven correct, as I came out on the other side.

I also noticed that my ankle had stopped bleeding, which was a plus. I didn't know what, exactly, had stopped it, but it might have had to do with my aura; I knew that Lucario rarely ever got sick, for instance. And, when they did, it usually went away pretty quickly.

Eventually, I stood up and brushed the dirt off of myself. Once I did that, I was able to examine my surroundings a little more.

I was in a small hallway with a couple of prison cells on one side, including the one I had just gotten out of. There were also a few windows, through which I could see that it was nighttime.

Due to the fact that it was dark outside, I reasoned that it must have been more than twelve hours that I had been unconscious. Most likely, I had been given some sort of powerful tranquilizer; that was probably the only thing that could have resulted in that. If that was the case, it was no wonder that my head had hurt like a bitch.

I searched for the way out of this hallway. I might have had more freedom to move around here than I would have if I had still been in the cage, but that wasn't saying much. I didn't know if any of the doors here would open.

There was one large door, but it wasn't going to let me through. It _had_ to be locked; why would it not be? That would have made no sense.

Just in case, I leaned against it and tried to open the door. Believe it or not, it actually opened up, onto a tiny hallway that was followed by what appeared to be a spiral staircase.

 _Where the hell am I?,_ I wondered. I knew that I had been underground, and this stairwell would hopefully lead me back to the surface. In my new body as a Lucario, I instinctively hated being underground. I suspected that that was a specific part of their biology or something like that, although I really didn't have a clue.

 _What am I going to tell them?_

Almost immediately, I was hit with that simple question. As usual, however, the devil was in the details. More specifically, the details of what exactly I was going to say.

 _Hello, Mom. I turned into a Lucario while I was out seeing Serena, and…_

Suddenly, I realized something.

My mother must have been worried sick about me. If, ever since I'd been knocked out by that tranquilizer, or whatever else it might have been, she had been wondering where I had been this whole time...well, suffice it to say that it must have been pretty stressful and terrifying for her.

Really, I had no idea what I was going to say. And that was a big problem indeed, because she would probably be very angry at me, thinking that I must have been experimenting with drugs, etc. That definitely wasn't an impression I wanted her to get.

I climbed the staircase, wondering where it would lead me. Soon enough, I had my answer.

I was behind the counter of a local bakery, one called Grandmaster Cakeshop. They sold items besides cakes, but that was what they were best known for. Since I was a big fan of baked goods, I almost immediately felt very hungry. It occurred to me that I had not eaten in quite a while, and my stomach was growling, clamoring for some type of food.

 _Okay. I'm at Grandmaster Cakeshop. Since I'm a Lucario now, it would probably be advisable for me to leave this place._

I didn't know what time it was, but it was only a matter of time until the owners of the bakery came back to open for business. I didn't plan on being anywhere near the bakery when that happened.

Walking out the door, I had many questions that had still not been answered.

* * *

 **I was going for a Zelda: Twilight Princess vibe here; that's a video game I am currently playing through. If anyone reading this has played that game, or seen an LP of it, they will probably know what I am speaking of.**

 **In any case, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to tell me what you thought of it.**


	5. Let's Meet In the Mysterious Forest

**I'm finally free! My school ended yesterday, and I've got seven precious weeks of vacation before school starts up again. I'll be on vacation for this week, so I may have more time to write. It'll be nice being on the water, sunbathing, and playing Melee with my brother.**

 **To my fellow New Englanders: Please stay cool, as it's going to be pretty hot for the next few days. (The date of writing this is June 30, 2018, so if you're reading this beyond that point, disregard those words).**

 **In other news, this story has hit 1,000 views, and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait to see what you guys think of this chapter; even though it's not very long, a lot happens in it.**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

 _Should I go and tell Serena what happened? Would she even believe that I was still Ash Ketchum, or would she just dismiss me out of hand, tell me to get the hell out of there?_

Really, I had no way of knowing. However, I decided that it wouldn't make sense to head over to her house. Even though it was kind of on the outskirts of town, I really wanted to get away from Pallet Town as quickly as possible. Stopping at Serena's house would not accomplish that, not by a long shot.

No. The only thing to do would be to leave town, head north along Route 1. I couldn't even tell my mother what had happened; for all I knew, she were already planning my funeral.

I felt a pit grow in my stomach. The idea that my mother already thought that I was dead was just too much for me to bear. I didn't want to believe it, and I would have been absolutely crushed to find out that it was true.

 _Please don't be true,_ I thought to myself. _I'll give anything for it not to be true._

 _Even your own life?,_ another part of my mind asked me.

 _Okay, maybe not that._ I valued my own life very highly, above basically all else, so that was questionable. However, I think you get the point.

Even though it was clearly late at night, perhaps even the very early hours of the morning, I decided to stick to the back roads, the ones few people travelled on. I didn't want to be noticed by anybody, or, at least, as few people as possible. I didn't need tons of people taking photos of a Lucario tripping over his own feet as he ran to get out of Pallet Town.

I wasn't exactly tripping over my own feet; in actuality, I was accustomed to my Lucario body quite well, sprinting like someone at the very end of a marathon. However, for the most part, I felt like I was in a daze. If you told me that I had leaped over several garbage cans as I was running, I would not be surprised.

Eventually, I reached the outskirts of town, and now I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn't seen anyone driving by, but that, of course, didn't mean a whole lot. It was perfectly possible that I had missed the sight of not one, but several cars. Certainly, it would have been compatible with me being dazed for most of the run.

I took one last look at Pallet Town. Since it was a fairly small town, there weren't a whole lot of lights on in the downtown area. For the most part, it was quite dark, and I knew that the majority of people had to be sleeping.

 _If I'm going to transform into a Lucario and run down the various alleyways of the city, trying not to be spotted, night is definitely the best time of day to do that._

I chuckled to myself. It felt good to find something humorous amid a very confusing and terrifying situation.

Soon, I was in the suburban areas of the town, closer to where Serena lived. The houses all looked different, but most of them were fairly medium-sized. I could have told you which one was Serena's if I had been paying attention.

It was then that I once again realized just how hungry I was. I wished that I would have taken something from Grandmaster Cakeshop, but, at the same time, I had been raised, and taught, not to steal. While I wouldn't normally care about childhood ethics in a situation like this, the fact remained that stealing even one pastry would likely have attracted more attention.

No. I would have to go hungry, at least for a little while.

I didn't really have a plan for where I was going to go next. And I would soon realize that that was a big problem, because not having a plan could make me that much more vulnerable to getting caught if I made too many rash decisions.

I eventually stopped running and started walking at a slower pace. Running would definitely attract more attention than I wanted towards me, and that would not be a good outcome. Besides, I didn't want to tire myself out.

I was close to the start of Route 1. If I could make it there, I would appear less suspicious, because it was quite common for Pokemon to travel along that route, even without trainers.

And then I realized something else.

It was probably early Monday morning by now. I had school today, one of the last days of my junior year of high school. Until now, I hadn't even bothered to think about how my GPA would be affected by this whole episode...but now I knew that it would suffer greatly.

Once again, though, such mundane matters as my grade point average were definitely the least of my concerns right now. I was more focused on how I was going to escape Pallet Town, and where my next meal was going to come from.

I had no phone; it was probably better that way. If I did have a phone, it would have been tracked to me almost immediately. They'd know where I was, and, what was more, that this Lucario was actually Ash Ketchum. And then the news media would go all apeshit over the fact that I, Ash Ketchum, had transformed into a Lucario.

Eventually, the sky started turning from pitch black to navy blue, and I knew that dawn was approaching. It would be light soon, and I had to reach the entrance to Route 1 before that happened. Luckily, I knew that it wasn't far from here. Unfortunately, I was not going to be able to stay at any Pokemon centers, owing to the fact that that required one to hand over their trainer's license, and, not only did I not have that with me, but showing it would give away my identity immediately.

 _I'm really in a bind._

Indeed, that was the only thought I could muster at that moment. I was so full of worry. Not just for myself, but for my mother, and for Serena.

 _She doesn't know, and she'll never know._

 _That's not true. She'll probably find out through the media or something like that._

I shrugged, not keen on continuing this line of thinking. All I knew was that I was close to Route 1, and then I could forage for food in the brush next to the road.

That, too, rose more questions than it answered. One of those was, where would I find food? I wasn't exactly the best in terms of survival skills, and my Lucario senses weren't helping, at least not yet.

 _Please, Arceus, let me hone these senses soon enough to help me, before I starve to death._

I wasn't a very religious person, and I didn't ask Arceus for very much. However, I was fairly confident that the deity would grant me that, simply because he knew that I was Ash Ketchum, who had turned into a Lucario.

 _Is there some kind of destiny for me, that I have turned into a Lucario? Am I a child of light or something like that? What would that even mean, anyway?_

I shook my head. I couldn't think about deep things like that, not when I was still trying to get away and avoid detection.

About two miles out onto Route 1, that was when I hit a snag.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

 _Fuck,_ I thought. _Time to hide._

That slogan could only belong to one evil organization, because they were the only ones known to use it: Team Rocket.

 _Team Rocket._

That very name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of just about any human or Pokemon. They were known for capturing and experimenting on rare types of Pokemon.

I immediately flinched, but I tried not to make too much noise, because I didn't want to attract too much attention. I jumped into the nearby bush, trying to land as quietly as possible - not an easy task by any means.

Like I said, Team Rocket were very eager to catch various types of Pokemon, and I knew that a human-turned-Lucario would most definitely be near the very top of that list. If they indeed were able to see me, I wouldn't be able to run or hide.

 _But would they know that I was a human originally?_

I shook my head. Of course they wouldn't _know_ that, at least not at first. But they could always connect the dots, figure that I was behaving very oddly for someone who had been a Lucario forever...and then realize that maybe I hadn't been.

Once I was hiding in the bush, I was able to see the Team Rocket members walking past me.

It was clear, based on their uniforms, that they were not members of Team Rocket's leadership. Rather, they were just common grunts, sent to Route 1, just north of Pallet Town, in order to capture some Pokemon.

 _What if I'm their target?_

I covered my eyes with my paws. I didn't want to think of that possibility, but I had to consider it at the same time. I had to guard against its potential consequences; I owed it to myself to do so.

"I heard about a boy who turned into a Lucario or something like that" a male voice said. It was clear that it was coming from one of the grunts.

 _Fuck. They know about me. And they're coming after me._

I wanted to scream, but my lips wouldn't make a sound. Besides, it wasn't as though I wanted anyone to hear, because I was trying to hide. That would kind of defeat the whole purpose of hiding, and it was vitally important that I stayed hidden. I waited to see what the next thing to be said would be.

"He got locked up down there, underneath Grandmaster Cakeshop. Reportedly, he escaped. Our highest priority should be tracking him down, because we don't need the story to get out". That was a female voice speaking.

 _Interesting._ Team Rocket didn't want people to know about me having turned into a Lucario. In that respect, we both wanted the same thing, but the methods we would use to get it were, of course, very different.

"Where do you think Ash Ketchum went?" the male voice asked. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's out of Pallet Town by now".

"Oh, if he's smart, he will have left" the female voice replied. "There's no way he's still there".

I tried to look completely natural as I hid in the bush. If I was seen, I didn't need them thinking I looked suspicious. If I did look scared, they'd probably be able to guess that I was Ash. After all, it was rare to see a Lucario around where I lived, so there would presumably be a strong possibility that any that you happened to see was likely to be me.

"He might be close by" the male voice said. It was then that I realized he was _hungry_ somehow. It sure as hell sounded like he was desperate for blood, much like a werewolf.

 _I guess Team Rocket sends their most brutal on their missions,_ I thought. _Would make some sense._

I heard some rustling in the bushes near me, and I froze. In hindsight, I should have bolted in order to get out of there. I should have run so far away, and so quickly, that they would never know I had even been there in the first place.

Instead, like an idiot, I stayed put, like a sitting duck in the brush waiting to be shot.

"Doesn't look like anything's here" the female voice said. "I don't know about you, Brett, but I think we should move on".

"You do?" asked the male voice, which I now knew belonged to someone named Brett.

"Yeah" the female voice replied. "We might as well look somewhere else for him. He can't keep going this way forever; eventually, he'll get tired and have to stop. And there's our chance".

"Do you think that he's going to stay on Route 1?" Brett asked the woman.

"Oh, yes" the female voice responded. "The woods are just too dangerous to enter alone, and, what's more, I just don't think he would do that".

 _On what basis is that?,_ I thought, but, in the end, I didn't care what their reasoning was. All I knew was that they weren't going to look in the woods for me.

If they weren't going to look in the woods for me, that was where I should be, I decided. It didn't take a genius to figure that out, nor should it.

* * *

After waiting for a while to make sure that the Team Rocket grunts were far enough away from my current location, I started heading away from the dirt road that was Route 1. It might have been a location with sentimental value, as it was where many trainers started their journeys, but that didn't matter.

All that mattered was that, if I stayed there, I would be leaving myself highly vulnerable, and eventually be discovered by Brett and the woman who had been with him. That wasn't going to be an option.

I went deeper into the woods, and, soon enough, I realized why I had been reluctant to enter this location.

I wasn't so much afraid of the forest as I had respect for its danger. I knew that there were plenty of aggressive types of Pokemon in there, and they would probably delight in stalking me.

Of course, in my Lucario form, I was six feet tall, whereas most forest Pokemon were much smaller. If anything, one would think that I would be the predator and they would be the prey, but I was preparing myself for the possibility that it would be the other way around.

As soon as I'd made it a mile into the forest, I started running. In hindsight, that was probably pretty dangerous, owing to the fact that the trees were spaced fairly closely together. I had to move left and right in order to dodge the trees, and it was quite hard to control my speed.

Eventually, I crashed into someone that was running in the opposite direction as me. I fell to the ground, clutching my aching head in pain.

 _Ow...thanks a lot, whoever that was._

I looked around, but I didn't see anybody. Perhaps whoever it was had been invisible; I knew that some Pokemon had that ability, but that didn't stop them from being solid.

"Ouch" a female voice said.

I looked down and saw that it was a female Lucario that I had just crashed into. She was also rubbing her head.

"Uh...sorry" I said.

"Look what you just did!" yelled the female Lucario. "You probably just gave me a concussion, all because you weren't looking where you were going!"

"Well, sorry" I replied. "What else can I say?"

She shrugged, and I knew that she was admitting that she didn't know the answer. Which was all right with me; I'd forgiven her immediately.

"Just ended up here" I said. "How about you?"

"Woke up in a cave with the worst headache of my life" she replied. "Just walked out, headed down here, and saw you...whoever you are".

"What's your name?" I asked her. Almost immediately, I realized that that might have been considered rude to ask. It was often a bit weird to ask a person their name the very first time you saw them.

"Serena" she replied.

My eyes opened wide. "Serena Courtland?"

Her eyes opened wide. "How did you know my last name?"

"Because I've met you before" I said. "I'm Ash Ketchum".

"Un-freaking-believable" Serena replied. "You also turned into a Lucario?"

"Sure did" I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "Woke up in what seemed to be a prison cell, started running out here, and the rest is history".

"Should we hide somewhere?" I asked her. "Find a safe place?"

She shook her head. "I think we should go back into town, tell them the truth".

I looked at her, my eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Are you kidding me? The news media is going to make a huge deal out of this, and, really, who could blame them? It's a pretty massive story".

"I still think it's better that we head back, so that our parents will know. They don't need to be planning our funerals when we're very much alive".

"Good point" I replied. Even as a Lucario, Serena had good sense, something I admired her very much for.

"Yeah. Let's head back".

* * *

 **There's the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll see you guys soon with the sixth chapter.**


	6. Not-So-Fake News

**All right. I got this chapter out a little later than usual, partly because I am still afflicted with a moderate-to-severe case of writer's block. That said, this is a chapter in which a lot happens, so I hope that all of you enjoy.**

 **Tomorrow's the fourth of July, but I'm not looking forward to it very much, to be honest. I'm just not feeling very patriotic lately, since...well, you can probably guess. It's also pretty hot still, not something I enjoy. I mean, I am SNOWLucario, for crying out loud.**

 **Without further ado, I present to you Chapter 6.**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

As Serena and myself began walking back through the forest, we compared notes on what had happened thus far.

"So...you woke up in a cave?" I asked her again, just to confirm. "With what felt like the worst headache of your life?"

She nodded. "Honestly, it's probably what it feels like to have an aneurysm or something like that. Not fun at all, and I'm glad that it's over now".

"I also had a really bad headache when I woke up" I replied. "But I woke up in an underground prison cell, not a cave".

"How did you escape?" Serena asked me.

"I was able to dig underneath the bars of the cage" I said. "Once I had done that, it was a simple matter of climbing back up the stairs into the bakery".

"Wait...the prison cell was _below a bakery?_ How does that work, exactly?"

"They just hid it in the basement of Grandmaster Cakeshop".

"How does nobody notice it? You'd think that that would raise more than a few eyebrows, but _no._ That's just the way it goes. Somehow, nobody even bats an eye".

"Yeah, not really sure what's up with that" I said in response. "But really, that's not something we need to be thinking too much about. I, personally, am a lot more interested in how we came to be this way".

"You mean, having turned into Lucario?"

I nodded. "Exactly that. Now, I have no idea what's going on, but someone had to have imprisoned me in that cage. I think that whoever it is knows that I know you".

Serena put her paw in front of her face, looking very shocked indeed. "That's very concerning indeed" she said.

"Quite" I replied. "If someone was targeting both of us, that means that nobody is safe. If anyone is associated with us, they'll be in big trouble".

Serena looked as though she was about to faint, swaying from side to side. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open the whole time.

"I don't want to put my parents in danger" she said dully. "They don't deserve that. Neither does your mother".

I didn't know what to say. The idea of knowingly endangering my mother by being near her tore my heart out. At the same time, so did the idea of leaving without telling her, making her think that I had died.

No. I owed it to her that she knew the truth. Whether or not she liked it, it would be better for her to learn it from me than from the news media.

"They don't" I replied. "We'll go down there, let them know what happened, and then we're going to have to leave".

Serena looked as though she was about to protest, but then thought better of it. Really, that was the way it was going to be, and she knew it.

"I just can't imagine leaving them" she said tearfully. "They care about me so much. I know that I'm seventeen now, and I'm almost old enough to do it, but...I can't. I just can't".

"You have to" I replied. " _I_ have to. And we don't even have to stick can be separate if you want to, and we can stay out of contact".

She looked at me sadly. "Maybe that is what will be necessary. Which really sucks; I really like being with you".

It struck me as a little weird that she said that. Yeah, I might have had some romantic feelings for her, and it was certainly possible that she felt the same towards me. But we weren't "official" yet, and probably wouldn't be for some time, so I really didn't know what to think.

"Yeah" I replied. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that".

"It's not going to" Serena responded. "I'm not going to _let_ it come to that. You've been such a big part of my life for so long...it's just not going to be easy for me to give you up like that".

"You don't have to" I said, regretting my earlier words. "Forget I said anything at all. We're going to stick together, come hell or high water".

She smiled, and I knew that it was sincere. I knew that she really wanted to stick with me, because...I just did.

 _Is that the power of aura?,_ I wondered. I knew that aura could be used to tell a person's mood, and sometimes whether or not they were lying. For that reason, Lucario were often employed by local police forces whenever they needed to do lie detector tests.

Eventually, we made it back to Route 1. Now that we were out of the woods, we could more fully appreciate the fact that sunrise was coming. The early summer morning was warm, and I knew that it would be very hot indeed later.

 _That's going to suck,_ I thought. _I've been in some hot days before, but I haven't been a Lucario during them. That's the difference._

I knew that my new coat of fur was going to make things very stuffy indeed, and I wasn't looking forward to that. However, unless and until I found a way to turn back into a human, I was just going to have to deal with it.

Now that day had broken, it was no longer a good idea to run, since we would have immediately stood out to anybody who was travelling Route 1. They'd probably be wondering why these two Lucario were in such a hurry.

"Get ready for a long walk" I told Serena. "I passed your house as I was heading out here. It's probably about five miles still". I didn't know the exact distance, but that sounded like a fairly realistic estimate.

"Okay" she replied, keeping pace with me. We were moving fairly briskly, and I estimated that it would be little more than an hour before we arrived at her parents' house.

Of course, that might have been a bad thing, since I was dreading explaining to her parents what had happened. I didn't know what they might think of two teenage mutant Lucario on their front porch, and I wouldn't blame them if they were quite shocked.

"My dad's a gun owner" she said. "He only uses it for target practice occasionally, but he always has it on standby just in case someone does happen to scare him. We're really taking a risk by going there".

"That's not a risk worth taking" I decided, taking charge. "I don't think he wants to find out that he shot his daughter when she had turned into a Lucario. He won't want that living with him forever".

"No, he really won't" she said in response.

"In that case, we could head to my house. That's quite a ways away, though".

"So what?" Serena replied. "We're Lucario now. Fighting types. That means we have a lot more stamina than we would have as humans".

I hadn't thought of it that way, but I knew that it was true. Lucario, as well as other Fighting types, were typically banned from running in high-profile marathons, for instance. Their extra speed and stamina typically made it so that they would be much more skilled than their opponents, and thus more likely to win or even finish.

"Yeah" I replied. "I guess we can do it after all. And, when we get to my house, we can always call your parents and tell them what happened".

"That sounds like a plan to me" she said. "Let's do it".

* * *

Just like I had said, it was a very long walk to my house. By the time we made it there, the sun had risen fully, and the sidewalks were a little more crowded. We occasionally saw cars pass us, but there weren't too many of those.

"I'm not looking forward to explaining about this to your mother" Serena said eventually.

"They really don't judge" I insisted, although I didn't know that with absolute certainty. It was very possible, in my opinion, that she would; after all, she tended to react to any bad news by slightly panicking. That said, she was a good mother; just one to worry easily.

"That's good" Serena replied. "Because I've had enough worry for a lifetime in the last day. First I was worried about you, then I was worried about so many other things, like how I was going to avoid detection as a Lucario".

"The media's going to get ahold of us eventually" I said. "Vulpix News is probably going to have a field day".

"Can you imagine the headlines?" she replied. "Imagine if it was something like, 'Pair of Freaks Turn Into Lucario!'".

I snorted, which is what I typically do when I am forced to laugh on short notice. I didn't see anyone around who had noticed that Serena had mentioned our transformations, and I was relieved by that. As far as I was concerned, the fewer people who knew about our current predicament, the better.

And then I realized something else.

Today was Monday, a school day. Since I wouldn't be showing up that day, and no excuse could be given for my absence, everybody would suspect something or other was going on. One thing was for sure: There would be a lot of raised eyebrows.

Eventually, after what felt like a very long walk indeed, we arrived at our house, and, like the gentleman I am, I let Serena walk in first. After I came in, my mother looked very startled.

"Who are you two Lucario?" she exclaimed loudly, looking around the living room.

I raised my paw. "You're talking to your son".

"Ash?" she asked.

I nodded.

My mother turned to me. "Did you seriously turn into a Lucario? I don't think that's ever happened before".

"Well, like it or not, it happened here, and now we're dealing with the implications of that" I said. It came out more bluntly than I had meant it.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I've got to say, Ash, that's the weirdest thing I've ever seen happen. I've been through a lot of crazy occurrences, but never has my son transformed into a Pokemon".

"There's a first time for everything, I guess".

"Then you must be Serena" my mother said, turning to the other Lucario in the room. Unlike me, Serena looked distinctly female; I didn't know if there were any tangible differences, but I could just _tell_ that she was female.

"Indeed I am" Serena replied. "Hello, Delia".

"Hello, Serena" my mother said. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes, please".

My mother went to go make lemonade, and I sat down with my...well, I don't know if you could have called her my girlfriend. Perhaps "love interest" would have been a better term to use here, but, in any case, I was attracted to her.

We sat on the couch in the living room, and I put my arm around her, an action to which she did not object. I suspect that she was too shocked by everything that had happened to really give a damn about something like that.

"I mean", she said, "I don't think that it'll be long before KPR and Vulpix are onto us. You know the news media and how aggressive they are".

"Yeah", I replied, "they really can be".

"It's not just that, though" Serena continued. "Whoever transformed us...they must have been specifically targeting us. After all, we _were_ kidnapped".

I shuddered at the thought of what might have happened had we not escaped. There were many possibilities in my mind, none of them good.

She turned to me again. "Unless...no, that would sound like a crazy conspiracy theory. Nobody would seriously believe us if we mentioned that".

"Why not? What are you thinking?" I asked her.

"What if they let us escape?" Serena asked me. "I've been thinking, Ash, and...it was too easy to escape. It was just too easy, and you know it".

I hadn't thought about that, but it was true. I had been pretty much unopposed as I had made my way underneath the cell door and up those stairs. Nobody had noticed me, or, at least, nobody had bothered to challenge me.

 _What if she's right? What if they let us escape on purpose?_

To some people, that thought might have been reassuring, but I saw it differently. If they had let us escape on purpose, there were many chilling possibilities for reasons why. Really, one could speculate about it until the cows came home, but I knew that it wasn't going to be a pleasant reality, no matter what.

Eventually, my mother came back into the kitchen, with a pitcher of lemonade. She poured it into glasses for me and Serena and sat down to talk to the two of us.

"So...where have the two of you been for the last twenty-four hours?" she asked us. "I've been worried sick about you two, and so, I am sure, have your parents, Serena".

"It's a long story" I replied.

"Yeah" Serena said. "It's a _very_ long story".

"Well, we've got all the time in the world" my mother replied testily. "Now that you're not going to school today anymore, you can take as long as you need in order to tell me the story. And don't leave out any important details".

"Okay". I felt as though I was walking on pins and needles here.

"Begin".

"So", I said, "I was biking to her house when I felt a sting in my leg. I might have fallen off the bike, too, but I don't really remember that. All I do remember is waking up in a prison cell".

My mother clamped a hand over her mouth. "Do you mean the Pallet Town penitentiary?"

"No, I don't mean that one" I replied. "It was right underneath Grandmaster Cakeshop. Don't ask me why they put a prison cell underneath it, because I have no fucking idea".

"Please don't swear in here, Ash".

"I'm sorry" I replied, feeling a little irritated. "You try getting kidnapped and turned into a Lucario, and then see how you like that!"

"Okay" she replied. "I see now".

"Indeed" I replied. "And, considering that I'm missing a day of school for this, I am pretty peeved as well".

Normally, I wasn't one to enjoy school too much. It was perfectly clear to all of those around me that, at times, I would rather be doing something else. However, considering that it was the end of my junior year of high school, there were times that I would rather not miss it, considering that it often seemed as though my grades were hanging by a thread as it was.

"Wow" my mother said. "You must be pretty annoyed at that".

"I am" I replied. "And, trust me, I don't like this reality any more than you do, but it's one that I have to live with".

"That must be incredibly frustrating for you" she told me.

Suddenly, the doorbell started ringing. I couldn't see anyone from here, since the blinds were shut to keep out the intense summer sun, Whoever it was ringing the bell must have been very determined, however, because it sounded for a full five seconds before silencing itself.

"I'll get it" I said impulsively. They say that hindsight is 20/20, but I think it was a pretty bad idea to do that.

I'd always been taught not to answer the doorbell unless I knew who was behind it. I opened the blinds in order to see.

"Who is it?" Serena asked fearfully.

"The news media. Who else would it be?"

"You're joking, aren't you?" she replied. She then looked at my face and saw that I was being dead serious.

"I'm not" I replied, opening the door. That too might have been a mistake, but it was, I thought, something that had to be done. Anything that would drive the reporters away would be a big help to my spirits, which were currently pretty low.

Almost immediately, I was hounded by reporters from KPR and Vulpix News. I tried to speak, to tell them that they weren't welcome, but I kept getting interrupted.

"Excuse me", the man from Vulpix News asked, "could you tell me what happened to Ash Ketchum? The boy who disappeared yesterday?"

"Do you have any information on what has happened?" asked the woman from KPR. There were dozens of cameramen and reporters, all taking pictures and clamoring for their chance to speak to me.

I considered lying to them. I really did. However, I decided that I stood to gain nothing from withholding the truth, and much to lose. If I was discovered to have been deceiving the reporters, I didn't know what would happen, but I suspected that it would be nothing positive.

Instead, I told it like it was.

"I'm Ash Ketchum" I said. "I turned into a Lucario last night".

The reporters all looked shocked at that. One of them turned towards a camera and said, "We're here at the residence of Ash Ketchum, who has apparently transformed into a Lucario. I don't know what's up with that, but more details will be revealed as they become available".

I resisted the urge to facepaw. _I can't believe that I just told them that!_

A minute ago, I hadn't fully realized what the consequences of telling the truth would be. Parents tell their children all the time not to tell lies, but sometimes telling the truth is even more dangerous.

Now that the news media knew all about me having turned into a Lucario, that would likely open the floodgates for all sorts of stories, including fabrications, things that just weren't true.

"When did you turn into a Lucario?" the man from Vulpix News asked me. "More specifically, where were you, and what were you doing?"

I was hesitant to reveal the full answer. After all, I was already kicking myself over having told them about turning into a Lucario. It would seem idiotic, therefore, to tell them even more about what had happened.

However, I figured that I was already up a creek without a paddle, and nothing I did could change that, so I might as well just tell them the rest of the story. It made sense to do that. It made all the sense in the world.

"Well, I remember being injected in the leg with something and passing out. I don't remember falling off the bike or anything like that. All I remember is waking up in the prison cell, and then I was already a Lucario".

"Where is this prison cell? I'm assuming you weren't accused of something illegal, were you?"

"No, I wasn't" I replied. "At least, not that I am aware of. But, in any case, this prison cell was located underneath Grandmaster Cakeshop in town".

The man from Vulpix News came up to me and narrowed his eyebrows, creating a very severe expression on his face. "If that's true, the owners of that bakery have some explaining to do. Why is there a prison cell in the bakery? Are you even telling the truth?"

I raised both my paws in the air. "Yes", I replied. "I am telling the truth".

"Lisa?" the Vulpix News man said, getting the attention of the KPR woman.

"Yes, John?"

"You are a police officer, correct?"

"I am" Lisa replied. "I've been one for twelve years, in fact".

Almost immediately, my heart, which was already beating at quite a fast pace, began beating so quickly that I could feel it through my rib cage. The end result of this was not going to be good.

"Take Ash to the station and interview him there. You can also give him some steps on what happens next, because that's going to be really important. He'll have to know what the implications are of his transformation".

"Yes" Lisa replied.

"I have a question" I told John and Lisa.

"What is it?" they both asked me in unison.

"Can I bring my mother and Serena over to the station with me? Serena also turned into a Lucario".

"Sure. Just go and get them, and then we'll be on our way to the station".

I sighed quietly, steeling myself for what was going to be a very uncomfortable conversation.

* * *

 **It's time for some Q & A! Please leave your responses in your reviews.**

 **Question: Where are you from?**


	7. The Offer

**Wow, what a day it's been. Through it all, I was able to write and post this chapter, which I hope you will like.**

 **Also, if you want to contact me on Discord, the code is SnowLucario #5443. You can talk to me on there, and I'm pretty active on the site. Look forward to seeing you there!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

After taking a deep breath, I turned around and sheepishly walked inside. I wasn't looking forward to what was coming; it was going to be ugly, and it was going to get ugly fast.

"Mom?" I called. She was still in the living room, exactly where she had been when I had gone to answer the door.

"Yes?" she replied. She was sitting next to Serena, both of them staring intently at me. My heart was thumping so powerfully that I really did think that my rib cage was a goner.

"They want me to go to the police station with one of the reporters" I replied. "And they want Serena to come with me, since she also turned into a Lucario. And you too, Mom".

That wasn't entirely true; I had been the one to ask if they could come with me, just because I felt that I needed to have someone with me for emotional support.

I had expected Serena and/or my mother to lash out at that. Surely, they would argue, I didn't have the right to force them to come with me. Nobody was in the mood to be interrogated by the cops, myself included.

However, Serena said, "I guess I'll do it. Is avoiding this as bad as resisting arrest?"

"I don't know, to be honest" I replied. "I guess...maybe. But I'm not entirely sure".

"They'll take us there, I presume?" my mother asked us.

I shrugged. "I would think that they would do that. If they didn't, that would be rather rude of them".

"All right" she replied.

The three of us walked out the front door so that we could go to the station with Lisa. Truth be told, I was quite nervous for this part; I was worried about the questions I was going to be asked. I'd never been questioned by the police before, and I was going to have to start now.

The crowd of reporters had dissipated somewhat, but Lisa was still standing there. Now that I could look at her more closely, I saw that she did resemble what one might expect a police officer to look like. I didn't know why; I just got that vibe from her.

"Okay" she said, as soon as the three of us were facing her. "I am very sorry to tell you guys this, but I am going to handcuff all of you".

"Why?" I asked, against my own better judgment. Generally, I felt that it was a bad idea to question police practices when you were in the presence of a cop.

"It's just protocol" Lisa said sternly. "We do that to everybody, regardless of whether or not they are criminal suspects. It's what we do".

I wasn't sure if I liked that practice, but, as stated above, I wasn't in a position to question it.

As soon as we were all cuffed, which felt highly uncomfortable, we sat in the back of the police car that had pulled up to our house. My heart was in my throat, and I felt as though I was about to throw up.

Lisa drove us to the station, during which time none of us spoke. There really wasn't that much to say.

The whole time, I was looking outside the window, dreading the moment when we would pass by the school that Serena and myself attended. When that happened, it was going to be incredibly awkward and difficult to handle. I didn't want them to know what had happened.

And then I realized something else: _It was out of my control. They probably already did._

It was true. I didn't see any reason why they wouldn't show it at school. Generally, in history class, current events were discussed, or at least given some level of lip service. Me turning into a Lucario would absolutely qualify, and would probably be headline news in the paper tomorrow.

I wanted to facepaw, but then I remembered that I had been handcuffed, which would make it pretty hard to do so. I settled for looking downward at my wide blue hips in defeat. I'd wanted to keep as low a profile as possible, and I had completely blown it.

We arrived at the police station, and Lisa had us step out of the car before leading us inside. My mother, Serena, and myself all followed her into the building and up the stairs to where, I assumed, she would speak to us.

She led us into a room with four armchairs next to a fireplace. Since it was such a hot day, there was no fire budning there, which was just fine with me. In what was essentially a blue fursuit, I was plenty warm already.

We sat down in the armchairs, and the conversation immediately started.

"Can you please explain what is happening, Lisa?" my mother asked the police officer.

"Well, you already know at least some of it...what's your name, again?"

"Delia" my mother replied. "But you didn't answer my question. Why are we here? Ash didn't break any laws, did he?"

"No, he did not, at least, not that I am aware of" Lisa replied. "But we can still be very helpful to him and Serena".

I nodded, and so did the two females sitting near me. "What can you help us with?" I asked her.

"Well", Lisa replied, "I first need to remind both of you what is at stake here. Have you ever heard of Team Rocket?"

"Yes" all of us responded in unison.

"I think that all of you know just how brutal they can be. It's been reported, for instance, that they have kidnapped and experimented on humans, in order to…".

 _In order to turn them into Pokemon?,_ I wondered. That was a chilling thought indeed.

"Yes, in order to turn them into Pokemon. Or, at least, give them Pokemon-like characteristics. It is not known how many they have experimented on, but...there is some evidence that they may not be content to only experiment on the Pokemon they have captured".

"Do you have any estimates?" Serena replied. "If we were experimented on them while we were unconscious…".

"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure on that" Lisa said. "What I can say is that there have been a good number of disappearances from all around Kanto over the last year. I'm sure that you have heard about some of them on the news".

I sure had. These disappearances were typically on the front page of the newspaper. Even though I, like most members of my generation, typically checked the Internet for my news, I was still aware of them.

I remembered their names. Martha McHenry, Evan Fairfield, Claire Morrisey...the list went on and on. After a while, one had a hard time even remembering those names.

When I had read those stories, I hadn't given them much thought. Yeah, they were tragic and terrifying to think about, but they hadn't happened anywhere close to where I lived. I was unlikely to be captured as well. That reasoning might be selfish, but that was really the way I thought about it.

"It's quite possible that these people were captured by Team Rocket and taken to their jail cells. They're good at preventing escape; by all accounts, you should not have been _able_ to escape".

It was then that I realized something more.

If I hadn't been meant to escape, that meant that Team Rocket was most likely still going after me. Why would they give up, when I had the potential to expose their entire operation?

I wasn't safe now. I wasn't ever going to _be_ safe, unless Team Rocket and all of their cronies were brought to justice.

"But you did nonetheless" said Lisa. "That brings me to an offer that I have for both you and Serena. It's one that I, personally, would advise both of you to take".

"What is that offer?" my mother asked. As far as I could tell, ever since we had entered this room with the armchairs, this was the first word she had spoken.

"There is an option for 24/7 protection for Ash and Serena. They would be taken to a secure location, where they would be safe from harm. And there, they would be able to live in peace, without worrying about Team Rocket capturing them".

I looked over at Serena, who appeared to be very concerned. I looked down at the floor, thinking about my options.

On one hand, I could refuse to take this protection, potentially leaving myself as a sitting duck. I could still go to school, still hang out with what friends I did have, and, in effect, still live my life.

However, I would constantly be living in a state of fear, wondering if Team Rocket was going to get me. And it would only be a matter of time, but I wouldn't know when it was coming. _A true sitting duck._

Or I could take this protection and move to this secure location...but how secure would this location be? Lisa seemed to be offering total certainty, which seemed fishy to me. Nothing was going to be one hundred percent safe; as far as I was concerned, when you were an eighteen-year-old human-turned-Lucario, the world was a very dangerous place.

That wasn't even to mention the fact that this location was most likely very far from where I currently lived. I was going to have to move a long way away from here in order to go into hiding, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that.

"What are the details of this place?" my mother asked. "They would be completely safe there, you say?"

Lisa nodded. "Nothing would happen to them. They'd be completely free from harm. One way or another, something has to be done, I would say. None of us want them to be captured".

"You're certainly right about that" I said.

I tried not to think of what Team Rocket might do to me if I was caught by them once again. Of course, however, when one is trying not to think of something, they typically end up stuck on the idea of that very thing that they were trying to avoid thinking about.

"It's just an option" Lisa said. "If you're feeling pretty scared about getting captured, I would recommend that. It's really the only way we could guarantee your safety, but it would come at the expense of some of your freedoms".

"Like what?" Serena asked.

"Well, this location is in Sinnoh" the police officer replied. "Were you to take me up on my offer, both of you would have to switch schools for your senior year. I understand that that might be an inconvenience for both of you".

To say that was an inconvenience would be an understatement, but I kept my mouth shut. I had a feeling that Lisa still had more to say, and that it would be rude to interrupt her.

"Also, it would just be pretty complicated; you'd have to leave your parents. Ash, where is your father, and Serena, where are your parents?"

I didn't like to think about, or talk about, my father. He'd left the family when I was really little, and it had always been a sore subject for both myself and my mother. That wasn't going to change any time soon.

"He left me when Ash was two" said my mother. "And Serena's parents aren't here right now; they're still at their house, and they probably have no idea".

"Really?" Lisa asked Serena. "Your parents have no idea that you're a Lucario?"

"We didn't bother to head there" she told the cop. "You see, my father is a gun owner, and we didn't want to take the risk. We hoped that he wouldn't be trigger-happy, but that might have been too much to ask for".

"I sure hope he wouldn't have shot a random Lucario who came by. Did you agree on any security questions or anything like that?"

Serena looked slightly confused, and then Lisa explained. "Those are questions that you agree on in advance, in order to detect if others are masquerading as your family".

"I see" the female Lucario replied.

"In any case", said Lisa, "it's important for the two of you to make a decision. The protection will be available at any time, and then you'd be taken straight up to Sinnoh. You can continue your lives here for now, but, the second you feel you need the protection, just call me up".

"Why can't we just stay here?" I asked my mother.

"Well, I really don't see a problem with that" she replied. "I'm assuming that you want to keep attending your school, don't you?"

I nodded. "I do. Don't you, Serena?"

"Yeah" Serena said. "I would rather keep going to school here than move somewhere up north. It's like my parents once told me, our lives are here".

"Okay" Lisa said. "But, if there are any incidents that occur, and we manage to get you back, you will both be placed in protective custody immediately. It will be for your own safety, and you will not be released until it is deemed safe".

That was a chilling thought. I tried not to think of what it would be like to be imprisoned somewhere for your own safety. That could indeed become my reality soon enough, and I definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

"I would advise both of you, in the meantime, to not take any unnecessary risks. Don't go anywhere that isn't going to be crowded".

"Why does it have to be crowded?" I asked. "That makes no sense. Shouldn't we try to attract as little attention as possible".

"I would prefer", Lisa replied, "that you two left your homes as little as possible. However, if you must leave, make sure you are in places with lots of witnesses around. That way, they're a lot less likely to try and take you. They don't want to be seen".

"I see" Serena replied, scratching her chin. I, meanwhile, was staring daggers at Lisa.

"Can we go now?" I asked the cop. It wasn't as though I had anything against her, but I somehow felt that this was an awkward conversation. It was then that I realized why I had immediately known that she was a police officer.

It hadn't been her outfit. It had been the way that, when she looked at you, she made you feel guilty, as though you had done something wrong. Even if you hadn't.

Okay, if you put it that way, maybe I did have something against her. It's kind of rude to constantly look at a person and purposely try to make them feel that way. As for her protection...I really hoped I didn't need it. Because, if I did take it…

 _No. That's not an option. You will not need the protection._

 _What if I have to, though?_

As we were handcuffed once more and taken out of the building to head back to the police car, I kept thinking about that.

No matter what, I would not let myself get scared. I would not let myself worry about something over which I most likely had no control. That's advice that many people give, but few ever take.

* * *

As soon as we got back to my house, I turned on the TV and headed on over to the Vulpix News channel. That was the most popular station in the Kanto region, and thus the one that the most people would likely be watching right about now.

I wanted to know what they were saying about me.

After reaching that channel, I saw what they were talking about. The headline read, "Teen Boy Transforms Into A Lucario - What Happened?"

One of the news anchors, whom I recognized as the reporter from earlier, was saying, "I actually met Ash Ketchum at his house today. He answered a few questions for me this morning".

"I see" a female reporter replied. "Can you tell me some of what he said?"

I was hoping that this man was going to take the high ground and refuse to do so. It just didn't seem right, since I had never given him permission to say everything that I had said to him.

Clearly, however, it didn't matter to this guy.

"Yeah. He said that he'd been riding his bike. He doesn't remember falling off, but he does remember waking up in a prison cell underneath Grandmaster Cakeshop in downtown Pallet Town".

"I see. Why was there a prison cell beneath a bakery in Pallet Town?"

 _There you go!,_ I thought. _Finally. She's asking the real questions, the ones we badly need answers to._

"Well, that's one we're still trying to figure out, Sheila" the male anchor said. "Rest assured, whenever we figure out what is going on there, releasing that information is going to be our very first priority. However, right now, we're just not there yet. Give us a little more time".

"I see. Does the young man have any idea about how he transformed?"

I didn't know why, but, at the time, I felt very uncomfortable hearing her ask him this question.

"He doesn't know that, Sheila. He says that he just woke up as a Lucario. That ought to be a pretty frightening experience, I should think - certainly not one I'd want to go through!"

"Indeed" replied Sheila. "Well, that about wraps it up for this segment. In other news - ".

I turned off the TV, not intent on hearing about the "other news". Truth be told, I didn't really care about any other news. Ever since transforming into a Lucario, I had become numb to the rest of the world, besides the news media. They were always going to bug me. They were going to hound me, follow me to the ends of the Earth, unless and until I managed to turn back into a human. And maybe not even then.

I pictured never becoming a human again. It sure wasn't easy; I was so used to being a human, and had spent so little time in my Lucario form. But, from what I had experienced so far, I really didn't like this new body.

 _My life really sucks right now,_ I thought. _And, as long as I remain a Lucario, my life is going to just keep on sucking._

I tried to look ahead, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as it were. I tried. And tried. And tried.

But I just couldn't.

* * *

 **Answer: I'm from New England, that region of the United States in the northeastern corner. I really don't like this country, but that's another story.**

 **Question: What is your favorite color?**


	8. Center of Attention

**Oh boy, do I hate writer's block or what. It kept me from writing for some of the last four days. What's more, my time for writing is going to be cut down thanks to my internship that I'm starting tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm doing the internship, but it will come at the expense of writing.**

 **On a happier note, this story has passed 2,000 views. Indeed, the current count is 2.3K. Sorry that this chapter is pretty short; I plan on making the next one longer. It might take a few days to put out, but I will put it out at some point.**

 **Also, I was made to do some research for a trip my family is planning to go on in December to Costa Rica, which also limited my writing time. Now that I'm legally an adult, they wanted me to figure out where we are going to stay, and helping to make decisions like that is a stressful prospect for me. But someone's got to do it, and I'm looking forward to the trip immensely.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 8!**

* * *

 **ASH'S POV**

That night, I had barely slept, in spite of the fact that I had been awake for much of the night before that. I believe that this was mainly due to one fact.

That fact was, indeed, how worried I was about everything.

Every few seconds, I found myself looking around, convinced that I was going to get hounded by a bunch of Team Rocket grunts. Knowing them, they'd probably circle around me in a swarm, because they were generally proud of their strength in numbers.

However, for the rest of that day, and throughout the night, that did not happen. Even so, I tossed and turned almost all night. Finally, around three or four in the morning, I was able to get to sleep, but I was woken up, what felt like seconds later, by my alarm clock.

 _Curse that stupid thing._ Really, was there any positive purpose that it served? I'd finally gotten to sleep, and it had to wake me up at the beautiful time of 6 AM.

Of course, I knew why I had set my alarm for that time. It was because I was going back to school that day, my first school day as a Lucario.

I gulped. _No matter what happens, this is not going to be fun. They're all going to be staring at me, expecting for me to tell them everything._

Indeed, while the hounding from reporters had been bad yesterday, being hounded by my classmates was likely to be far worse. At least with the reporters, I would hopefully never have to see them again. My classmates, on the other hand, I saw every day, and they would witness all of my smiles and tears at my attempts to cope with my new reality.

I wiped sweat off of my brow. Since I was now covered in blue fur, I noticed that I heated up a lot more easily. I only wished that I hadn't had to begin my time as a Lucario in early summer, the hottest season of the year.

As soon as I gained the strength to grab my iPad and check the weather forecast, I did so. It stated that Pallet Town was going to be ninety-four degrees that day.

 _Today is really not going to be fun._

I coaxed myself out of bed and onto the stairs. Once I was in the kitchen, I saw that my mother was already up.

That surprised me. Normally, she slept in a little later; after all, I no longer needed her in the morning to make my breakfast, or to take me to school. I typically walked or rode my bike, even in the dead of winter. And, since this was Kanto, our winters were fairly mild, not anything like winters in northern Sinnoh. Those could really be brutal.

"Morning" I told my mother.

"Good morning, Ash" she replied. Looking at me, she said, "You look kind of stressed".

"I am, Mom. First day at school as a Lucario...anyone who thinks I'm not going to be bullied like hell is lying through their teeth".

My mother nodded, frowning. I knew that she cared deeply about me, and didn't want to see me bullied by the other students. But, like me, I was pretty sure that she didn't see anything that could be done about it.

After all, I still had to go to school. And, unless something drastic changed that neither of us could currently foresee, I was still going to be a Lucario at the end of the day.

Once the time came, I dragged myself out the door and started walking down the street. I left my home a good deal earlier than usual that day, and that was mostly for one reason.

That reason was because I wanted to be seen by as few people as possible. Even if everyone already knew that I was now a Lucario, I would rather not have had millions of pictures being taken of me, which would give the news media more material to fawn all over.

No. It was better this way. Even if I had to spend more time than usual at the place I disliked - school.

Trying to look like a normal Lucario wasn't as good an option as some people might have thought, because that species of Pokemon was quite rare in this region of Kanto. Lucario were mountain Pokemon, and Pallet Town wasn't in the mountains. If the people saw a Lucario on the road, they would likely assume that it was Ash Ketchum, the boy who had transformed.

I stuck to the back roads mostly, much like I had when I had been leaving town on Sunday evening - or had it been Monday morning? Either way, I tried to avoid places where many people were likely to see me. This wasn't always successful, but I knew that the outcome would be much better than if I decided to go the quickest way.

Even so, I arrived at school with ten minutes to spare. I used that time to hide in the bushes close to the entrance of the school. I was never going to blend in with the crowd, and I wasn't even going to try.

I knew that, eventually, I was going to have to enter that school building, and, when I did, I would face so many stares that I'd probably wish I hadn't done it. But I was going to do it anyway.

As soon as the doors opened, I walked inside and headed to my first class, which was math. The moment I entered the classroom, I recalled the exact reason why I hadn't been looking forward to school today.

I could see that several students were holding out their phones, snapping pictures. Clearly, they wanted to become famous on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever as having been lucky enough to meet me in my Lucario form.

I tried to wave it off. The whole reason I had even bothered to come to school today was to focus on my work. I didn't want to get too far behind in my education.

I found that it was considerably more difficult to hold a pen as a Lucario. When one thought about it, this really wasn't surprising, just because my fingers were so much larger than they usually were.

Even so, I tried to hang on to my teacher's every word. Judging by the occasional glances she sent my way, she was definitely judging me for having turned into a Lucario.

 _Hey!,_ I wanted to yell. _You try turning into a Lucario, and tell me how you like it! I can't imagine that you would._

I thought about Serena, who was in a different class than mine. On Tuesdays, we did have science together, but nothing else. She was probably wondering how I was doing as well.

 _Is she...interested in me? Like, that kind of interested?_

It was certainly possible, I told myself. Given the way she had always seemed to be somewhat comfortable around me, I would not have been too surprised.

 _Don't focus on that. Focus on what the teacher is saying, not your feelings for Serena or her feelings for you. Neither of those matter right now, not. One. Bit._

Eventually, my math teacher handed out a worksheet for us to complete, and, during that time, I found it very difficult to focus on the math. Pre-calculus was always a pain, but it was made far worse by the endless stares of all of my classmates.

I wanted to yell at them to stop, to look away from me, but I knew that would get me nowhere. Indeed, it could only serve to make things worse for me, and I really couldn't afford that.

There was one positive thing, and that was that the teacher had ordered the other students to put them away. That in itself didn't necessarily mean anything, since that was something she always told students to do. However, it was definitely relieving that I was no longer being photographed.

That was how most of the rest of the day went. I would enter the classroom, and students would be taking pictures of me, the way that high school juniors typically do. People are naturally curious, after all, but that didn't mean that I forgave them.

However, once the teachers came in and ordered the students to put their phones away, they did so. Even so, I was sure that there were already thousands, perhaps millions, of videos of me on YouTube, featuring me sitting in the middle of class as a Lucario.

After science, the only class I had with Serena, was over, I went to lunch in the cafeteria. It didn't take long to find Serena, obviously, since she was the only one who was also a Lucario.

She was sipping her drink, looking out the window, appearing very worried indeed about everything. I didn't want to disturb her, but, at the same time, I needed someone to talk to, and Serena was that person. Indeed, she was the only one who could _be_ that person.

Even though I was glad that there was at least one person I could talk to, that in itself was a little depressing. The reason for that was because I felt very, very isolated indeed.

Looking around the cafeteria, I saw that people were either staring at us or deliberately ignoring us. I mean, it's not like it's easy, or even possible, to focus on _everyone_ in a high school cafeteria, but this seemed like it was going a little overboard. They were going out of their way to make us feel excluded.

"How has your day been going?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "Honestly, not that great. How about yours?"

I shook my head. "Pretty much the same. I'm not looking forward to the next few classes". Truth be told, they weren't classes that I hated, but I didn't have them with Serena, and I figured that I could have used her as somewhat of a "shield" against other people paying attention to me. That was how I'd managed to get through science class.

"Yeah" Serena replied. "I really don't like school in the first place. I think you know that I'm not always the biggest social butterfly that there is, so...yeah".

Together we sat there, eating our lunches in silence for the most part. I didn't want to dwell on the next few hours ahead, because I knew that it would only make me feel worse about the immediate future.

"So…", she told me eventually, "I heard about something that's happening here pretty soon. Found it out last night when I was checking the news".

"What's that?" I asked her. I was all ears, because I figured that whatever she was saying would end up being important, very much so.

"Billy Talonflame is coming to town" Serena replied. "They're going to play in concert, and I think it's going to be amazing".

I had never been to a concert before, but I had heard of Billy Talonflame. They were one of the most famous punk rock bands around, consisting of a Lucario couple and a Zoroark couple. Their greatest hits included "Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rattatas" and "White Spearows".

"Nice" I replied. "Did you buy tickets already?"

She nodded. "Two, in fact. I was hoping that you'd want to come?"

I smiled. "Couldn't be happier to do that".

It was true. The last few days had been so stressful for me, I hadn't had much time to think about anything that would bring me any sort of joy. Now, however, I had the prospect of seeing one of my favorite bands in concert, and the idea of missing that was going to be one hard pill to swallow.

"Great" Serena replied. "In that case, I'll just tell my mother that you're coming, and I'll come pick you up on Friday night at 6:45. Does that sound like a plan?"

I smiled once more. "Yeah, I'd like to do that. I'll make sure that my mother is okay with it, though, first".

Serena nodded. "You're probably going to want to confirm that, first. It's not that _I_ think it's too dangerous to go, but I understand why some people would".

I facepawed.

I hadn't even realized the potential danger that going to the concert could pose. I really should have, considering that it should have been obvious to anybody with even half of a brain.

 _Guess I don't even have half a brain,_ I joked to myself. _Maybe I only have a quarter of a brain, or an eighth of one._

On a more serious note, I knew that going out in public was the most dangerous thing that I could do. Lisa had told me that, if I felt in danger, I could call for her protection at any time.

 _But it would mean saying good-bye to my mother, and maybe Serena as well,_ I thought. _Is that something I want to give up?_

 _If it's for my own safety,_ I thought, _I would gladly give it up._

But were some things more valuable than my own safety?

Serena and myself mostly made small talk for the next few minutes. Eventually, the bell rang, and we went to head to our next classes.

I was, once again, dreading the rest of the day. And I dreaded every day that would come after that, for I suspected that things weren't going to get any better.

Indeed, they were only going to get much, much worse.

* * *

Later, I was at home, working on the homework I had been assigned that day. Since I hadn't been at school the previous day, I'd also been assigned _that_ day's homework, meaning that my workload was much higher than it usually was.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, sweat running down my snout. It was still very weird to be saying the word "snout" to refer to my nose, but that was just part of being a Lucario. It was, like so many other things, something I would just have to get used to.

It was difficult not to let any of the sweat get onto the paper, and, in order to do this, I decided to move the chair back somewhat from the table. After all, I did have pretty long arms, so it wouldn't make working on the homework that much more difficult.

Eventually, my mother entered the room, and I remembered exactly what I had to discuss with her.

I wasn't looking forward to this conversation, but it was one that I would have to have sooner rather than later.

"Mom?" I asked her.

She turned to face me. I realized that she was carrying a laundry basket, probably about to fold some of her clothes. (Ever since I had turned into a Lucario, I hadn't been wearing any clothes, since my fur covered everything that might have been considered personal).

"What is it, Ash?" she asked me. "I'm a little busy right now".

I decided to cut right to the chase. "I've gotten an invitation from Serena to go to a concert".

My mother dropped the laundry basket, making a loud crash on the floor, and then turned to face me again."Say what?"

"I'm going to a Billy Talonflame concert on Friday night".

"Wow" she replied, scratching her head. "That's really quite something, Ash...but you didn't mention that to me. Is it official, then? Are you really going?"

I nodded once more. "Yeah, I already told her I was going".

"I wish you would have told me before officially deciding" my mother replied. "After all, you are a Lucario".

I chuckled. "Why does it matter that I'm a Lucario? If I want to enjoy my life, then why can't I?"

"It matters", my mother continued, "because being a Lucario makes going to this concert inherently risky. You never know who will be there; there could be Team Rocket operatives. Under most circumstances, that's not a risk that I would think would be worth taking".

I looked at her with what I hoped was a severe expression. "I'll be as safe as I can be. We'll take a lot of precautions. As much as possible. I want to be safe as much as you want me to be".

"We'll definitely have to figure some things out" my mother said. "We'll definitely have to work on some sort of safety plan, to make sure that you don't run into any problems when you're there".

I nodded. "I'll go talk to Serena, tell her what you said".

It was now my mother's turn to nod. "That sounds like a good idea".

After giving her a quick hug like the good son I was, I headed upstairs to make the call.

* * *

 **Answer: My favorite color is a golden yellow, specifically #F4CA32. It's the same color that the merge buff from Survivor: Game Changers (my favorite one that I own) is. Yes, I collect Survivor buffs, and currently own 30 of them. Got a problem with that?**

 **Question: What's the coolest place you've ever travelled to?**


End file.
